William Blake was an English poet and illustrator. He was involved in various form of the arts—including poetry, painting, illustration and publisher, prior to his death in 1827. He lived between the years of 1757 and 1827. Although he was grossly unappreciated over the course of his life, Blake has gained recognition as a pioneer in poetry and illustration. Most of his works of art were rediscovered almost forty years after his death. But, even still did not become very popular right away because not everyone was able to see and understand the significance in his work right away. But, it was difficult for some to understand who his target audience was. Although this was unclear what was clear were the messages he wanted to get across. He wanted to write and create stories that held moral value and wisdom as well. Blake was one of the first to combine illustration and literature to form the first samplings of genre of children’s books. The author Alan Richardson describes Blake as having a “fierce sense of artistic independence and fiery temperament.” This was what led from Blake to grow as an artist from just engravings to wanting to open up his own print shop and have the opportunity to publish his own work. Although he did many engravings for various people and was successful at it, he began to branch out. An example of one of his diverse works is Songs of Innocence because it was the first time he successfully put together what is called ‘illuminated writing’. He used lyrics similar to that of poetry and also used a picture to identify the plot of the story. The entire book was completed in 1974 and titled Songs of Innocence and Experience. Blake's strong opinions differed than his counterparts due to his untraditional views. Blake often made references to the Bible in his work, both figuratively and literally, showing strong religious ties.
